5 years ago… Microsoft denies Linux threat

NEWS 03.11.98 Microsoft's UK Windows marketing manager, Nick McGrath, has denied rumours that the company is feeling threatened by up-and-coming open source software (OSS) products such as Linux and Apache.

Widespread speculation emerged on Sunday evening when Eric Raymond - a leading authority on OSS engineering - posted a leaked internal Microsoft memo from Vinod Vallopillil, a Microsoft staff engineer. In it Vallopillil confessed that OSS "poses a direct, short-term revenue and platform threat to Microsoft, particularly in the server space".

McGrath refused to comment on the internal memo but denied a key point made in it: "Microsoft doesn't see open source software as a direct threat at this moment in time," he said.

03.11.03 Five years ago the rising tide of open source was very much on the radar screen at Microsoft but not only for the obvious reasons. This day in 1998 was near the beginning of the now infamous DoJ v Microsoft proceedings and featured Bill Gates’ testimony – via video – in court.

Microsoft, it soon became clear, would move from downplaying Linux and a lot of other open source software altogether, to welcoming suggestions that it showed competition in certain markets. Indeed, several years down the line – about the time the case would run – and open source had changed the market in key ways.

However, in areas such as server operating systems, it seems we have so far seen nothing more than a polarising of the market, arguably teeing things up for a bigger battle in the future.

Open source hasn’t made a huge dent in areas such as desktop OSes and browsers but where once Unix reigned supreme, pure market share figures (not differentiating for exactly what an OS is used for or how much associated hardware costs) show Linux and Windows gobbling up the market.

Microsoft can say it has been doing better and better over the past five years. But it was wrong to deny Linux was a threat five years ago.